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Contra Helicopter
The 'Contra Helicopter'Unofficial name. is an iconic support aircraft that has appeared in many installments of the Contra series. It is a military helicopter that generally appears at the beginning of the game carrying the squad to their mission and often reappears at the end to rescue and bring them to safety. Description A rather standard-looking military helicopter that generally appears at the beginning of the game to deploy the Contra units into the battlefield. It is generally seen from a frontal angle and slightly turned toward one side. In certain occasions, this friendly aircraft has played a more interactive role throughout the ongoing campaigns, whether it is by carrying the squad along a treacherous battlezone while they do their part by fending off any hostiles during the ride, or by serving as an improvised platform which the soldiers can cling onto while fighting the enemy. In some games, the helicopter is miraculously seen reappearing out of nowhere at the end (usually after defeating the final boss) to save the heroes from what would otherwise had been a certain death, as well as sometimes being seen in the ending cutscene and/or while the end credits roll, carrying our heroes back to the base. Appearances ''Contra First appearance of the helicopter in the series. The aircraft is only seen during cutscenes (primarily in the Famicom version) and in the ending, where it is seen barely escaping the Galuga Island as it explodes. Super Contra The helicopter made its most iconic appearance in this game, being seen from its now characteristic frontal and slightly turned toward a side angle for the first time and setting the standard of how it would appear in most sequels. The aircraft appears at the beginning of the game, hovering in place at the entrance of Base Area 1 with a rope extended toward the ground, which the Contra soldiers use to descend to the battlefield to begin their mission. In the NES port, ''Super C, the helicopter can be seen once again at the end of the game during the end credits, carrying our heroes back to safety. ''Wai Wai World 2: SOS!! Parsley Castle The helicopter also appears in this Konami crossover game, although in a rather unorthodox form, as it is actually none other than TwinBee himself, another iconic Konami character and the main protagonist of the series of the same name. It is seen from the front and slightly turned toward a side angle as its ''Super Contra counterpart, appropriately deploying the game's protagonist, Rickle, in the Contra-themed jungle stage. ''Contra III: The Alien Wars In ''Contra III, the airship went through a drastic redesign, now looking much more aerodynamic and carrying a large missile. It also plays a more interactive role this time around, mainly in the Air Battle stage, where it catches up with the heroes during a high speed chase and gives them a ride while they are in pursuit of the nefarious enemy battleship Dodriguez. Along the way, the heroes must fend off Sasaki, a rocket ninja miniboss. As the helicopter approaches the giant enemy carrier, it launches its missile toward it with the heroes still clinging to the rocket, allowing them to finally catch up with the vessel, where they then carry on a desperate fight high up in the sky in an attempt to stop it. An infinite supply of identical missiles will then start entering the screen from the left during the rest of the encounter, which could hint of the existence of many more helicopters from the Contra Force, allowing the soldiers to have impromptu platforms where they can cling onto to keep on fighting. The heroes ultimately manage to destroy the battleship and a huge explosion ensues as a result, covering the whole screen and leaving their fate unknown for a moment. As visibility returns, however, they are shown to be safe and sound, as somehow the helicopter managed to enter the scene in time and save them from an otherwise certain death. A similar scene takes place at the end of the game, as the helicopter manages to enter the aliens' hive from a big crater-like opening on the surface, right after the heroes had finally defeated their leader, Emperor Demon Gava. However, this victory is shortly lived as his still living brain awakens one last time and adopts the form of an armored beast which starts climbing up the tunnel in their pursuit, in a last ditch effort to stop them from escaping. Its attempt is futile, however, as the soldiers manage to keep it at bay and the monster ultimately dies. The credits then start rolling, showing the helicopter carrying the heroes back to the city for a well-deserved celebration. The helicopter does not appear in the Game Boy port, Contra: The Alien Wars. ''Contra: Hard Corps While the helicopter does not actually appear in this game, a new support aircraft known as the Air Police is introduced to play a similar role. The vessel, which now uses jet propulsion, still bears a similar design to its ''Contra III counterpart. It mainly appears in the Air Combat stage, where it gives a ride to the Hard Corps in their haste to reach a research center that is under attack. It later reappears at the end of the Missile stage, where it saves our heroes from an almost certain death after destroying a missile carrying the alien cell. ''Contra: Shattered Soldier While no helicopter appears to aid the heroes in this game, a military carrier resembling an airplane appears to take in that role instead. The plane somewhat performs a similar function to the helicopter from ''Contra III, by launching a missile with the heroes clinging to it to enter the fight. The carrier reappears later in another stage, where it serves as a stepping platform for the heroes to fight against a pursuing enemy aircraft known as Mr. Heli-Robo, in a scene strikingly similar to the Wonderbird miniboss fight from Contra: Hard Corps. Ironically, Mr. Heli-Robo would actually play the role of the Contra helicopter in the sequel, Neo Contra. ''Neo Contra The participation of the helicopter in this game takes a rather ludicrous role, as the heroes can actually be seen fighting while running on top of the helicopter's spinning blades in a very unpractical, yet still fun to watch way. The helicopter is actually a reused model of Mr. Heli-Robo, a boss from ''Contra: Shattered Soldier (or probably the same ship reprogrammed), although it does not transform into a robot this time around. ''Contra 4 In ''Contra 4, the helicopter is once again given a more interactive role. While it can be seen at the beginning of the game deploying the Contra units, in a scene reminiscent of its first appearance in Super Contra, it reappears at the end of the first stage for the second phase of the Underground Fort boss fight, serving as an improvised platform the player can use their grappling hook to cling onto, allowing them to attack the upper core more easily. ''Contra ReBirth In ''Contra ReBirth, the helicopter is actually piloted by none other than fellow legendary Contra commando Lance Bean himself. It appears at the first and last stages of the game, offering the other soldiers to hitch a ride back to Earth after the mission has been accomplished. Gallery Contra Helicopter - 08.png|The helicopter during the ending cutscene in the Famicom version of Contra. Contra Helicopter - 01.png|''Super Contra'' Contra Helicopter - 02.png|''Super C'' Contra Helicopter - 03.png|The helicopter during the ending credits in Super C. Wai Wai World 2 - 01.png|TwinBee playing the role of the Contra helicopter in Wai Wai World 2. Contra Helicopter - 04.png|''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' Contra Helicopter - 10.png|''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' Contra Helicopter - 09.png|''Neo Contra'' Contra Helicopter - 05.jpg|''Contra 4'' Contra Helicopter - 07.png|''Contra ReBirth'' Contra Helicopter - 06.png|Lance Bean piloting the helicopter and saving the heroes after the final battle in Contra ReBirth. ContraHeli.png|''Contra: Return'' See also *Air Police *Armored Chopper Footnotes Category:Aircrafts Category:Supporting cast Category:Contra characters Category:Contra 4 characters Category:Neo Contra characters Category:ReBirth characters Category:Return characters Category:Shattered Soldier characters Category:Super Contra characters Category:The Alien Wars characters